George, George, George of the bungle?

The kidnapping happened almost a year ago. Even though I wrote this story shortly after it happened, I’ve been reluctant to share my story, until now. It was my 1st day attending one of the biggest tech conferences in North America. I had reached out to an anonymous editor in hopes of getting some exposure and coverage of our newly formed organization called Texas Disasters Inc. A Godsend later, the editor, we'll call George, agreed to talk with my former business partner and I. After messaging back and forth for a couple of days, we finally settled on a time and place to meet.

It was a couple of minutes before 2:30 on a beautiful New Orleans Wednesday afternoon.

“We’re here” (2:29 P.M.),

proclaimed the text message sent to George to announce our arrival at the rendezvous site. Minutes went by with no response. Because we felt this was one of the most important interviews we could do at the conference, we waited, sitting on some couches, nervously discussing how George was serious about interviewing us and that he was just a busy man. When 3 O’clock started approaching us, we decided to get ready for what we considered was the most important investor meeting we could attend while at the conference, which was scheduled for 3:15. Feeling disconcerted, we left. About 1 minute after walking away from those couches is when George sent us the first of a series of fateful messages.

“Just got pulled” (2:58 P.M.)

Thinking to ourselves that George had gotten pulled from assignment, we couldn’t figure out what could have been so important that he had gotten taken away from such a big event. So we reached back out to him to clarify.

“You were recalled?” (2:59 P.M.)

was the question I sent, which is pretty universal media jargon for pulled from assignment.

“No” (3:00 P.M.)

was the next message he sent. Moments later is when things started getting hairy.

“KIDNAPPED” (3:00 P.M.)

was the following message. Not at all thinking he was actually kidnapped, I responded with

“Oh. Do I need to call the authorities? LOL. Well we have to meet up with someone at 3:15 at the Starbucks, you want to meet up there now or something after?” (3:02 P.M.)

“Yes pleas” (3:03 P.M.)

“Please” (3:03 P.M.)

George responded. It took a moment or two to process what we had just read and to realize that this very well may be a real situation. I remember thinking that I had only asked him two questions. Do you want us to call the authorities and would you like to meet now or later. The only question that would require a yes or no would be, what at the time we thought was just a silly rhetorical question, “Do you want us to call the authorities.” Was he in distress and that’s why he misspelled “pleas”? Was it a desperate cry for help saying “PLEASE!, PLEASE!”? Was he actually kidnapped and that’s why he wasn’t able to let us know he was running late? One of the prominent thoughts lapping at my mind was that this kind of thing unfortunately happens all too often.

Ponder this for a moment, a senior editor at a major news publication may have uncovered something about someone and was about to expose it. From what we could tell, the security was pretty lax at the conference. This would be the almost perfect spot to kidnap someone. This chain of thoughts all transpired within a matter of about one minute.

“I need confirmation, you want me to call the authorities?” (3:04 P.M.)

was the next text I sent. The following three minutes were a calm whirlwind of reflection, emotions, calculations and contemplation's. I thought to myself, is this really happening? What if it is, I can’t just do nothing. I know moments matter in situations like this. What if it’s just a misunderstanding, I could really piss this guy off if I’m wrong. Should we just assume that it’s a misinterpretation and continue on our trek to meet up with one of the most sought after investors in the world?

“Calling authorities now.” (3:07 P.M.)

was the next message sent and decision we made. A couple of minutes went by. I recall thinking that with the last message hanging in the air, at least George would know that we were taking this matter serious. After about two minutes had passed, I picked up the phone and called George. I could feel my heart accelerating with every unanswered ring.

Ring ring. Ring ring. Ring ring.

No answer. (3:09 P.M.)

At approximately 3:10 P.M. my business partner started calling 911 to report the possible kidnapping of “George”. Meanwhile, I ran inside straight to the room of which the staff members of the conference gathered. “We may have a situation” is the first thing I can remember saying. After showing the staff members the text messages between George and I and recalling the essential details of what had happened, the staff members unanimously agreed and started going into action. Within minutes, a large number of plain-clothed security officers had gathered around and I began retelling the situation. Once the heads of security agreed that it was plausible that this may have been an actual kidnapping, and that it's better to be safe than sorry, they began looking for George.

At about 3:20, George#3 (anonymous as well), an early stage Uber investor and prominent philanthropist, as well as our 3:15 appointment, sent me a message.

“Hey there. At a table right by the Starbucks ramp. Am supposed to be backstage by 3:30 so can stay here for about 10 min.” (Approx. 3:20 P.M.)

I remember the sinking feeling of knowing that I'm about to have to make the decision to blow off Mr. #3 as there was no way I’d stop in the middle of this and go meet with him.

“I’m terribly sorry but I can’t meet you right now. We have a situation. Very big situation.” (Approx 3:23)

was my hurried reply to Mr. George#3. It was almost 30 minutes after the message “kidnapped” came across my phone when the gentleman in charge of security, George#2, came to me and said “Someone says George#1 is in the media room having a press conference.” The feeling of utter relief was soon drowned out by the intense feeling of dread as I regressed over the last half hour’s events. We had to make sure it was him. As the head of security and I made a beeline for the media room, I could feel the acid in my stomach attempting to prairie-dog my throat. Could it be? Sure enough, George#2 and I burst through the veil that separated us from Mr. George and, low and behold, there sat George, mic in hand, cameras rolling with several interviewee’s perched on a couch. I could see the blood vacating George’s face in real time. “We thought you may have been kidnapped. We called the authorities” were the only words that could pass from my mouth. Now I’m not certain I remember what words were said by Mr. George#1, but I’m sure they weren’t of the rainbows and butterflies variety. And rightfully so. Here I was, wearing a large print name badge and a t-shirt with the name “Texas Disasters.Org prominently displayed on the front. I’m sure it’s not too often that someone interrupts him in a press conference, much less some guy whom he’s never met, whom had been trying to get an interview with him. A couple of seconds pass by and George#2 and I leave the area, allowing George to finish his audaciously interrupted interview.

“What the fuck?!?” (3:45 P.M.) was next time I heard from George#1.

“I’m sorry man. We were just doing what we thought needed to be done. I thought you were actually kidnapped” (3:46 P.M.)

Several messages of me apologizing and George saying why did you think I was kidnapped and why wouldn't I call 911 later, I was able to explain our point of view that if he were kidnapped it would make sense to text me. He may not be able to talk with 911, why not shoot a message to the last people whom he had texted who were in the “disaster” field.

“If it makes you feel any better, we missed our meeting with George#3 because of this” (3:54 P.M.)

was one of the last messages I sent.

“I can vouch for you with #3” (3:57 P.M.)

“He’s a good guy, send me an email and you can pitch me there, (3:58 P.M.)

said George. After thanking him, we ceased communications.

While some may consider the day we thought George was seized from the Conference to be an epic fail worthy of a Darwin award, I feel different. For one, I feel that it speaks volumes to the principles for which this organization bases its foundation on. Along with knowing that if we were wrong we could potentially be pissing off one of the world’s most influential technology editors, we would also be missing out on meeting up with what we considered to be the most important contact we could have made at the conference and potentially obtaining a very large investment to kick-start our organization. Instead, we chose to try to save someone's life. And that's what Texas Disasters is all about, putting others above oneself.

Second, it’s a perfect proof of concept for what we’re building. Texas Disasters Inc. was established after Hurricane Harvey decimated Houston last year. It was so bad, first responder's were so overwhelmed with the calls of distress that everyday civilians had to jump in to help save lives. I was one of those guys who stepped up. From that experience, I realized that there wasn’t a system in place for civilians to deal with major disasters, and that there has to be a better way. We had so many issues that could have easily been solved by utilizing a platform like Texas Disasters.

Think of the main #socialmedia platform out there. Now imagine if they had things like; having the ability to push a button in order to privately upload your exact location and information to a large network of verified volunteers with a built-in “command” structure to facilitate disaster rescue, response and relief. What if it also had the ability to bring on and inform or direct the woodwork's of kindhearted people that just want to help who spring forth in the wake of a disaster. Imagine how things would change by just having the ability to search for someone with a specific asset or skill set, such as an EMT, an off-duty police officer or someone experienced in search and rescue or one who has an airboat or an epipen, and then kept it all organized together on one secure platform.

It didn’t take long to realize that we could utilize this platform for the day to day emergencies as well. Such as, someone having a heart attack. Why not call 911 from the app and connect them to one of our vetted, verified and credentialed EMT volunteers close by that could get there sooner than an ambulance? Or why not use it in the situation of a fire, a burglary, or even a kidnapping? How many lives could that save? Think about it, if someone was breaking into your house and you had a neighbor who was an off duty police officer, wouldn’t you call them first? I’m not suggesting we replace FEMA or 911, but it’s about time that the people of this world had at least a supplement to the preexisting governmental systems. It's all about communities coming together and neighbor helping neighbor. We're just making the connection between you and your neighbor you haven't met yet.

If George had our app, not only would he have been able to call 911 with a prerecorded message with the vital details of his “kidnapping” but we would have also had his exact location. Not to mention, in the time it took for the local police to never show up (20 minutes + until we canceled them), we found him. Something that could have been the difference between life and death for George.

So while the bungled kidnapping of George only led him into a unusually interrupted, last minute interview, and we lost out on a meeting with George#3, we were divinely shown once again that what we're building is desperately needed. And if the exact same situation were to ever happen again, there wouldn't be anything I would do differently. Except next time, maybe our app would be live and we could have prevented this whole debacle from the get-go, just by George hitting a button, or lack thereof. Hopefully Mr. George never actually needs us, but God forbid he does, we'll be here.

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